Red Ribbon Trail
by nic73
Summary: Story written for the Reverse Big Bang. Art by casper san as inspiration. I google Red Ribbon Trail and found a trail of hope, which I also used as inspiration. As Red John has Jane, Lisbon and Jane face their feelings.


She didn't need Jane to tell her about hope. He has a wide knowledge of so many things, some useful and some not. But she knows some stuff to, and she knows about hope (by definition) as a noun it's:

'the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.'

She realises now that she's been living off hope for a long time. She lives in denial, but as she races to the address she's been given by Van Pelt, where she hopes- there's that word again - to find Jane alive. Reality has shot her in the heart; she's in love with Patrick Jane.

She takes a sharp turn and heads down a dirt road, which is uneven and curving and takes all her concentration. From her GPS she can see that she's almost there. Looking at the clock, back up is fifteen minutes away, she can't wait. She stops the car about twenty yards from the last turn off to her destination. It's a remote place but it's on the edge of a forest and the trees should give her plenty of cover. She takes out her phone and dials. When he picks up she says three words:

"I'm going in."

She puts the phone back in her pocket without hanging up. She takes out her gun and cuts through the trees towards the house. She informs Cho at the other end of the phone that no one seems to be around, that Red John is pretty confident of no-one finding them.

Hope as a verb means:

to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.

She has the desire, the plea, that Jane will be found alive. It's running through her head on a constant loop in the background as she tries the door. The handle turns and she opens it, entering the room gun first. It's empty, she hears a noise from the next room. She rushes in.

"Stop right there."

The burly man in the doorway turns around and Lisbon stops breathing. It's her boss Bertram and he has a knife at Jane's throat. Jane is disrobed of his jacket and vest, the colour of his shirt almost obliterated with blood. He gives her a gentle smile but she can see the pain in his eyes. He forces words from underneath the pressure of the knife, causing his voice to come out raspy and broken.

"It's not as bad as it looks."

Lisbon's voice comes out soft, laced with worry.

"Jane."

Lisbon forces herself to look away from him and turns her attention to Bertram

"Let him go Sir."

she says, unable to give up the formality

"Shoot him Lisbon, go through me if you have too. Just shoot him."

Bertram increases the pressure on Jane's throat, Jane tries to back away, but there's nowhere to go. A cruel smile plays on Bertram's lips.

"She's not going to do that Patrick. Don't you know she's in love with you, I thought you saw everything."

He turns his attention to Lisbon.

"Now Agent, put your gun down."

"I'm not giving up my gun, Sir, you will kill us both."

Lisbon wonders how long she's been in the house, how long til the others arrive. She takes a glance at Jane, he seems to be holding up, but his blood is pooling on the floor.

"You may have a point Teresa. Take out your handcuffs and attach yourself to the kitchen cupboards; that will slow you down."

He pushes the point of his knife into the side of Jane's neck, it goes in deeper than Lisbon likes. Jane gasps.

"Alright, I'll do it."

"You better hurry Teresa, I'm counting to five and then it goes in deeper. 1...2...3..."

Lisbon fingers are not co-operating in her haste. She wills herself to calm. A cry escapes from Jane as Bertram reaches five. She doesn't look up until after she's finished the job. The knife is half an inch in Jane's neck.

"Well done. A shame you weren't a little quicker. Now take out your keys and throw them at my feet - quickly!"

As soon as the keys land, Bertram pulls out the knife, blood runs out, from the wound, she watches it leave a thick trail, as it runs down his neck, and joins the rest of the blood covering his shirt. She's relived that Bertram hasn't hit an artery. Bertram kicks open the door behind him and backs Jane out the door.

"Hang in there Jane, we'll save you."

Jane gives a slight nod, Lisbon can see he's struggling to maintain his composure. As Bertram pulls Jane clear of the door it bangs shut. Within moments Jane is gone. Lisbon reaches across her body with her free hand, she grabs her phone, it gets twisted in the fabric of her pocket, she pulls and twists to get it free.

"Come on! Come on!"

Finally it releases and she puts it to her ear.

"Cho did you get all that? How far away are you?"

"We did boss, how does Jane look?"

"His shirt's covered in blood, I couldn't see from where he's bleeding or how deep. Red John stabbed him pretty deep in the neck though. I don't think he'll have much time, especially being dragged in the woods."

"We got held up by an accident we'll be there in five minutes."

"Make it three, Cho."

Jane's being pulled by the arm, Bertram has a firm grip keeping him upright as he stumbles along, grunting, as each step sends pain coursing through him. He holds his free arm close to his chest, in the hopes that it will help contain the jarring along his body, as they move deeper into the forest. With each step he feels weaker, his thoughts consist of keeping up right and putting one step in front of the other. He'd felt so helpless stood there in Bertram's arms, with a knife against his throat, while he threatened Lisbon. He was glad Bertram had only a knife and not a gun, Bertram was enjoying himself until he heard the quiet buzz that announced the opening of the front door. Then, Bertram used the knife to cut through his binds and lifted him off the floor to be used as a shield. He stumbles once more as dizziness edges in on his mind. This time Bertram's hold doesn't keep him upright. There's an explosion of pain as Bertram kicks him in the ribs and drags him to his feet once more, Jane tries to ignore the crack he heard. He hears Bertram's voice, laced with venom, in his ear.

"I would love to leave you here to die, but you may still prove useful, she will always choose you over me."

Words rush into Jane's mind,

"Don't you know she's in love with you?"

How he hopes that Bertram is wrong. She deserves someone so much better than him. He's never hoped for his desires to be fulfilled. They're selfish, and would only bring Lisbon heartache. They're better unspoken and unacknowledged, Lisbon is better off that way. The picture of Lisbon's face as he was hauled out the door tells him that Bertram is right. What does he do now?

It seems to be taking forever for Cho to arrive. Every second is taking Jane and Bertram deeper in the woods. Woods that Bertram will know a lot better than they do, he probably already has an escape route planned. They may never find them. She stares at Jane's blood underneath the kitchen table and by the door. She tries not to think about the state of his shirt and the sight of his blood running down his neck. She can't help but wonder if she will ever see Jane alive again. Finally she hears the door opening and a small bell goes off in the kitchen, now she knows how Bertram knew she was there. She hears Cho call out.

"Boss?"

"In here."

Cho, enters the kitchen, he's already digging out his handcuff key and has her loose in seconds. Van Pelt and Rigsby follow Cho in and are staring at the blood.

"They went out that door. Hurry they've had a good head start."

They exit the door and stop as deep forest stares back at them. Van Pelt speaks for them all.

"How are we going to know which way they went."

Something catches Lisbon's eye and she crouches down and is following it with her eyes. She looks up at them.

"We follow Jane. Look!"

The others crouch down and soon see what she's found. Spots of blood leave a trail like breadcrumbs in to the trees. They each pull out their flash lights and set off.

Jane's aware that each of his senses are shutting down to the bare minimum. Gone, is the scent of the trees and fauna around him, there's only the smell of his own blood as it oozes out of the holes in his body. His mouth's filled with the acid taste of the bile that he constantly battles to keep down,as he suspects it would be followed by his entire insides. He can't hear the scurrying of animals or the crunching of the leaves underneath his feet, or the call of owls, just his ragged laboured breath, escaping through his nostrils. He looks through a pinhole at his feet stumbling over the ragged floor. He only knows that Bertram still holds his arm because he's still upright and propelling forward, the pressure on his arm is blotted out by the pain. Pain that intensifies with each step, from his wounds and his ribs; it's burning and unrelenting. His mind concentrates on the only that keeps him going, because without it he would give up, refuse to move and let Red John shoot him dead.

Lisbon.

Her picture is constantly before him, his mind took a camera shot of her face as he was backing out the door. He sees anger, hate, horror, pain, love and underneath it all hope. He's grabbed on to that hope and is holding it fast. His toe hits rock, jarring his body and sending agony through it. A white light bursts before his eyes and then black.

The small drops are hard to see in the impenetrable darkness. Bertram path through the forest in unpredictable, he goes straight for just a few yards and then changes direction. Each time it takes a while for them to pick up the blood trail again. Progress is too slow for Lisbon. Her only hope is that dragging an injured Jane is slowing Bertram down as well. Despair threatens to overwhelm her at the odds fighting against them, she searches deep within herself for the feelings that she knows she can trust. They tell her that hope is not lost, keep going, don't give up. He's changed direction again. Each takes a section, shining their torches, searching for the tell tale drops.

'It's taking too long, where is it?'

"Found one."

Everyone rushes over to Van Pelt, who's shining her torch on a small patch of ground, the drop of blood, lighting up like a guiding star. No one says a word, they move on.

Jane rouses to a pain across his cheek, he cries out as he's brought to his feet, his head spinning and darkness threatens once more. As Bertram tugs, Jane can't move his feet, they feel heavy, as if encased in cement. He feels himself falling again, but, stops as Bertram catches him in his arms.

"If you don't move Jane, then you're no good to me and I will kill you here and leave you for your Agent Lisbon to find."

They stop and look at each other for confirmation. They nod. Each of them had heard the noise, quiet, but filled with agony. They strain to hear more, but only silence. Lisbon puts her finger to her lips, they must move quietly. She gives instructions with her gun for her team to span out, but to keep eyes on her. She moves forward following his blood. She talks to Jane in her head.

'We're coming Jane, don't give up. We're almost with you, stay alive.'

She moves as quickly as she dares, straining to hear anymore sound. She keeps her torch low at her feet, to minimize its glow. Then she sees them, and crouches behind a tree. Jane is on the floor, Bertram on one knee, leaning over him. He's holding the knife nonchalantly in his hand, waving it in a circle, talking to Jane. Jane is still. She looks for the others but can't see them. She stands up and walks into the open.

"Put the knife down, Sir."

She spits out the last word. As she's speaking Van Pelt emerges from her hiding place behind Bertram, but out of Lisbon's line of fire, her gun in her hand. Lisbon doesn't take her eyes off Bertram but is aware that Rigsby and Cho have joined them from east and west, they have him surrounded. Bertram moves faster than they expect and the knife is in Jane's stomach before Lisbon's shot hit's Bertram in the head, and throws him backwards to the forest floor. Van Pelt checks Bertram's pulse, as a formality, life is impossible. Lisbon rushes to Jane's side, his eyes are closed, his face white, his pulse barely detectable. Cho and Rigsby remove their jackets and cover him, to keep him warm. The battle is now on to keep him alive until medical help can reach them. Cho sets off back to the farmhouse to guide them. Lisbon sits back on her heels in despair as blood trickles out of Jane's mouth and leaves a trail as gravity pulls it across his cheek down on to his neck. There's no way Jane has that much time.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lisbon is sitting in a grey plastic chair for the fourth hour. She's battling fatigue with her seventh cup of coffee. She shares her time between praying and pacing and not trying to think about Jane not making it. She fights between wanting the doctor to come through the surgery floor doors and wanting him to stay. Staying means Jane is still alive, coming out could mean the fight is over. She doesn't want to dwell on that possibility, but all the blood, his pale face and his weak pulse made that the more likely outcome. She may never get to tell him how she feels, at least while he's conscious. She seems to remember spilling her deepest feelings for everyone to hear while she pleaded for his survival. It's not how she wanted it announced to the world, a formal engagement announcement in the local paper was her preferred choice, now she can't look anyone in the eye. She feels a gentle touch on her arm followed by Van Pelts voice:

"We already figured it out, you know?"

"You did?"

"Jane, too."

"What if he doesn't make it. What am I going to do?"

"We'll help you, but he's a fighter, he'll be doing his best, and he hates to lose."

A laugh escapes from Lisbon's mouth, it sounds strangled and painful to her ears.

"Thank you, Grace."

She relapses back into silence, the exchange with Van Pelt sapping her of all energy. She places her feet on the chair and lays her head on her knees, wrapping her arms around her legs, looking to the world as if she's giving herself a hug, in reality she's trying to stop herself from falling apart. She squeezes her eyes tight and pleads silently to the only person who can help them both now.

Another hour passes before the doors finally open. She jumps up off the chair and sways slightly.

"Sit down, I don't need another patient tonight."

The surgeon says with a slight smile

"I'm guessing you're all here for Patrick Jane."

"Yes. How is he?"

Lisbon asks, dreading the reply.

"I'm pleased to tell you that he's alive. I can't tell you that he's out of the woods. He's in critical condition. He's lost a lot of blood and he has a couple of broken ribs that punctured a lung. It's taken a long time to get him stable. Hopefully the next twenty-four hours will show great improvement. To be honest I didn't expect him to last this long when I first examined him, but he keeps on fighting, so I'm not giving up on him either."

"When can we see him?"

"Are you family?"

"We're all the family that he has. I'm Agent Lisbon, his boss, and these are his colleagues."

" We need to monitor him closely,"

the surgeon answers kindly.

"So he can't have visitors at the moment."

"Thank you, I understand."

Lisbon stands at his bedside holding his hand. She's been informed that he's sedated and will be for at least a couple of days. He's still very pale, she can see gauze covering the stab wound in his neck. She realises that he probably has a few more of those on his body. Medicine and blood are being fed to him via a tube attached near his elbow. There are other leads snaking from him, all doing various jobs of monitoring his condition. As she entered the room the nurse told her he was doing very well, he has progressed far during the last twenty four hours. It feels good to see him. She knows that he's doing everything to win his fight. She places her hope in his stubbornness and determination. He's going to be alright, they're going to be alright. This is what she's going to take home with her as she starts to live in a new world. A world without Red John, a world where hopes, put on hold, can be awakened and fulfilled.


End file.
